Crazylegs' Jersey Number to be Retired
October 25, 2006 | Football
Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch is one of the most recognizable figures in Wisconsin sports history. The former running back and longest-tenured Athletic Director in school history will finally accompany the greatest Wisconsin football legends as his retired number 40 will be unveiled on the north end of the stadium facade Saturday when the Badgers play Illinois.
Hirsch came to Madison from Wausau, Wis. A standout on his prep football and basketball teams, he was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. As a 19-year-old freshman on the 1942 Wisconsin football team, Hirsch was considered a 'triple-threat halfback.' During that 1942 season, a season in which the Badgers were ranked as high as third nationally, Hirsch rushed for 786 yards, passed for 226 yards and also gained 390 yards receiving.
As the season progressed, so too did Hirsch's legend. When the Badgers faced top-ranked Ohio State, Hirsch accumulated more than 200 yards in total offense and threw one touchdown pass as the Badgers defeated the Buckeyes 17-7.
Later that season, with World War II looming and President Roosevelt's announcement that the minimum age for the military draft would be lowered, many of the Badgers knew that their time on campus was coming to a close.
So there it was, on a Saturday in mid-October, in front of a crowd of 60,000 at Soldier Field in Chicago that Wisconsin faced the Bluejackets of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Early in the third quarter, with Wisconsin trailing by a touchdown, Hirsch broke a 61-yard touchdown run to even the score. Led by Hirsch's unbelievable touchdown run, Wisconsin went on to win that game 13-7. It wasn't until after the game, however, that Hirsch's illustrious nickname was founded.
Francis Powers of the Chicago Daily News wrote that Hirsch 'ran like a demented duck. His crazy legs were gyrating in six-different directions at the same time.' It was then that the legend of Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch was born.
The Badgers finished the 1942 season with a record of 8-1-1. Hirsch, who was Wisconsin 's leading rusher, ranked as the sixth-leading rusher nationally. Six interceptions, a single-season record at the time, as well as nine touchdowns (five rushing and four passing), helped Hirsch to earn All-America honors.
Unfortunately, the 1942 season was Hirsch's first and only as a Badger. Hirsch was sent to Ann Arbor, Mich., to train for the Marines. While at Michigan, Hirsch not only played football, but lettered in basketball, track and baseball as well. To this day, he is the only person to ever accomplish this feat at Michigan.
After college, Hirsch was chosen in the first round of the NFL draft by the Chicago Rockets. After three seasons in the short-lived All-American Conference, Hirsch was signed by the Los Angeles Rams. While with the Rams, Hirsch was split wide as a receiver and an end, establishing him as football's first flanker. Behind Hirsch's record 1,495 yards receiving on 66 catches and 17 touchdowns, the Rams won the 1951 NFL Championship.
At the conclusion of his Hall of Fame NFL career, Hirsch returned to Wisconsin in 1969 to become UW's seventh Director of Athletics. Hirsch immediately turned around a program that sported a 0-19-1 football record in the previous two seasons. After his initial four years on the job, Hirsch saw attendance at Camp Randall grow from 43,000 to more than 70,000 per game.
Hirsch's greatest feat, however, may have been restoring pride in Badger Athletics. Saturday, we honor and recognize Hirsch as his name stands among other Badger legends in Camp Randall Stadium.
